Israel votes in its fourth general election in under two years later this month – with the latest polls suggesting Benjamin Netanyahu’s long premiership may be drawing to a close. But Israel’s longest-serving prime minister may get a reprieve thanks to the divided and ideologically diverse nature of the opposition Read more…
A group of 130 former army commanders and senior officials in the secret services and intelligence community publicly called for Benny Gantz to pull out of next month’s general election – or risk helping Benjamin Netanyahu remain in power. Gantz, a former IDF commander, currently serves as defence minister in Read more…
A left-right coalition of parties opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu remaining as prime minister has eked out a narrow one-seat majority in the latest Channel 12 poll. The survey also showed voter approval of the government’s handling of the covid pandemic rising as over four million Israelis received at least one shot of the vaccine. The poll indicated that Netanyahu’s Read more…
Labour Friends of Israel are delighted to be hosting a webinar on the upcoming Israeli election with David Horovitz, founding editor of the Times of Israel, on Wednesday 10 March 7:00-8:00pm. On March 23 Israelis will head to the polls for their fourth general election in less than two years. Read more…
The contours of the choice before Israeli voters on 23 March became clearer last week as parties submitted their final electoral lists, with centre-left rivals to the Labor party dropping out, the far-right consolidating and the main Israeli-Arab alliance splintering. What happened Last Thursday was the deadline for parties to Read more…
Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in Jerusalem’s District Court to formally enter a plea of not guilty as his trial on corruption charges resumed this week. The prime minister is accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases. He is the first serving Israeli prime minister to go on Read more…
The Labor party, which appeared to be facing electoral catastrophe just weeks ago, is rising sharply in the polls in a boost to new leader Merav Michaeli. A Channel 13 survey released yesterday showed the party winning eight seats in March’s general election, with Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents ekeing out a Knesset majority. It is the latest survey to show Read more…
Merav Michaeli, who refused to back her party’s decision to join Israel’s “unity government” last summer, was elected Labor leader on Sunday in a landslide victory. She now has a little under two months to revive the party, which had been threatened with an electoral wipeout, before voters return to Read more…
The future of the Joint List – an alliance of Israeli-Arab parties which emerged as the third strongest force in the Knesset at last year’s general election – appears to be in increasing jeopardy as talks aimed at preventing its collapse faltered on Sunday. The dispute within the alliance – which includes communists, Islamists and Read more…
Gideon Saar, a former ally of Benjamin Netanyahu, said at the weekend that his new party might consider an alliance with Likud – but that the prime minister couldn’t be part of it. Formed in December, Saar’s New Hope party has soared in the polls and represents the biggest danger Read more…
The outgoing Labor leader Amir Peretz announced today that he won’t stand in the Israeli general election scheduled for 23 March. Peretz announced he was quitting as Labor leader shortly after new Knesset elections were triggered last month following the government’s failure to pass an annual budget. Peretz controversially broke Read more…
The Knesset appears on track to dissolve next Tuesday, triggering the fourth round of Israeli elections in a little under two years. Negotiations between Likud and Blue and White – the two largest parties in the country’s “unity government” – to resolve a long-running budget dispute appear to have collapsed. Read more…